Obama's Chief of Staff Praises Catholic Influence

The Catholic Church is a “critical part” of American society, Denis McDonough, the newly appointed White House chief of staff, told “Meet the Press'” David Gregory Sunday.

McDonough is a devout Catholic, growing up in a large family of 11 children in Minnesota, Gregory noted, and has been a religious, as well as political, adviser to President Barack Obama.

But the new chief of staff said he would not get into church politics on the show when it comes to analyzing what the church should do when it comes to picking a successor to Pope Benedict XVI, who announced his retirement last week.

“What I do know is that the church has been — universally but also here in the United States — a critical part of this society,” said McDonough. “It is a critical part of our education system that has helped so many people — it helped me, frankly.”

The new chief of staff said in his opinion, “as long as the church continues doing exactly what it's done over the course of these many years, by advocating the kinds of things, investments and opportunity in education, then I think we're going to be just fine.”